Return of Evangelion
by LastStandofAchilles
Summary: Shinji Ikari is finally found two years after Third Impact. What does the future hold for him?
1. The Return of Shinji Ikari

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Evangelion, which is currently the joint ownership of GAINAX/khara/Hideaki Anno. I also don't own the city of Nagoya. I guess the city or government of Japan controls the copyright/etc. for that.

**Return of Evangelion - Next Century Telling**

**Chapter 1- The Return of Shinji Ikari **

* * *

"Why anyone would want to live out here, I couldn't imagine." Misato Katsuragi said to herself as she scaled the boulder that stood in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows as she pulled herself on top of the cliff. She looked around at the barren landscape surrounding her. Even though it had been two years since Third Impact, much of the area surrounding ground zero was barren, devoid of even the hardiest plants. As far as the eye could see, there were gravel creek beds and large boulders, some larger than houses. Here and there, there were a few stunted growths. Every once in a while, in the distance, a rabbits and mice scurried across the open spaces. 

"Well, I guess no one would find you unless they were looking for you, Shinji. I suppose that's what you want." She pulled out her binoculars and started scanning for any man-made structures. A Section Two report had found an unidentified ruin, with evidence that someone had been there not less than a day earlier. Finally, after scouting the area for people, Section Two had spotted a person that looked like Shinji Ikari.

However, their orders had been only to find the boy. It was left to Misato to bring the boy back in, since it was decided that he would probably trust her more than anybody else. Misato dropped her binoculars back down, and made a quick check of her surroundings. She turned slightly, and started scanning again. Finally, she caught a glimpse of the talked about ruin. She readied her gun, in case it wasn't Shinji she ran into. She took a deep breath and slid down back off the boulder.

Shinji heard the crunching of gravel as someone approached his camp. He knew he should have abandoned this place when he noticed someone had found it the day before. He pulled his bowie knife out from under his makeshift futon. "Who's there? I don't have any money." Still the footsteps continued to draw nearer. "I've got a knife! Go away!" Finally there was the sliding of gravel as someone slid down towards his camp. Suddenly there was a stumble as whoever was approaching his camp lost their balance and slid the rest of the way down into camp. Shinji, sensing an opportunity, jumped on top of the person as they came across the opening into his camp. The person had been unfortunate enough to land face down. Shinji instantly guessed the intruder was female, by the build of her body. Shinji straddled his legs across her upper back, then put a hand between her shoulders, bringing both to a stop. He lowered his knife beside her neck. "What's the reason for being here, stranger?"

Misato looked back up at Shinji. He didn't instantly recognize her, since she had mild road rash on one side of her face. Misato looked at how Shinji had changed since Third Impact. He had started to grow a mustache, and there were hints of stubble on his chin. His hair was beginning to get longer, from not having cut it recently. He had grown much taller since she had last seen him, he was slightly taller than her. His clothes were torn and dirty, but they couldn't have been more than four or five months old. To top off the appearance of not having been around others for a long time, a slightly mad look gleamed in his eye. Misato managed a slight grin, but decided not to kid around at the moment. "So, Shinji, long time no see."

He dropped the knife and rolled off Misato. "I'm s-s-sorry, Miss M-m-misato." Tears were coming to his eyes, but he looked away before Misato could make eye contact. He looked back at her. "Come on in, I think I've got some bandages for you." He stood up and walked back into his shelter. Misato stood up and brushed the dirt off. She silently thanked herself for putting on the military uniform that morning.

Shinji looked back out. "I'm sorry, where are my manners?" He walked back out, and helped Misato into the camp house. Misato was instantly reminded of somebody else, but she held her tongue. She didn't know how he would react to the comparison. He sat her on the bed, while he went further back, where he rolled a small stone back from the back wall. There was a small nook back there, where a small stash of medical equipment was hidden. "So, where do you want it, I don't have enough to cover all of that."

Misato felt her face, but it stung too much to touch. "Where does it look worse?" Shinji got the hint and smiled.

"So Misato, what brings you out here?" Shinji asked.

Misato looked down. "Well, to be honest…." She couldn't bring herself to say it. "I just wanted to visit you!" She looked up with as much of a smile as her injuries would let her.

"That's a lie." Shinji said simply. He wasn't angry, and he continued to get his medical supplies ready.

Misato looked down. "What makes you say that? I did want to see you again."

"I saw the Section Two agents out here yesterday. Visiting me isn't the reason you're out here." Shinji said quietly. "You're probably going to need to get stitches when you get back, some of those cuts look nasty. This is gonna sting a bit." He ran some water over her face to wash out the dirt, then put some peroxide in it, then washed it again. He put the bandages over the worst of the cuts, then sat down beside Misato.

"Father wants me back at wherever the hell you are now, right?" Shinji asked seriously.

"No. The Japanese government wants you back in Nagoya." Misato replied.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. "And if I refuse?"

Misato pulled her gun out, and laid it beside her. "I've got orders to bring you in whether you like it or not. Shinji, I don't want to do this as much as you don't want to do this. But for your own good, please come with me."

He looked down. "I see. Let me get some good clothes on. I'll be ready in about 10 minutes."

Misato stood up with Shinji and gave him a hug. "I'm glad to have you back." She turned and walked out of the tent. Shinji heard Misato fall down outside.

"Dammit, Shinji, how many traps do you have rigged out here?" Shinji smiled.

"None, actually, I'd just have to say you're clumsy."

* * *

Shinji had the few earthly belongings he had in his possession and loaded them into the back of Misato's car. She still had her Renault Alpine, which looked to be in excellent condition, especially considering it had survived the apocalypse. "Well I see the car's still in good shape. Wonder how much repair work it took to get it fixed after Third Impact." 

"More than you could earn in two years wandering the barren wilderness." Misato answered seriously.

Shinji laughed. "Oh come on, its not like I wasn't doing nothing out there! I feel a lot better than I did just after Third Impact. Something about the wilderness, and having to relearn the most basic instincts for survival, it felt good."

Misato laughed too. "Oh, so now we're the little liberated naturalist now. I'm surprised you didn't become a nudist while you were out there."

Shinji pulled his right leg up onto his left thigh and started taking off the shoe. "So you want me to become one?"

Misato blushed beet red and swerved. "SHINJI! IT WAS JUST A JOKE!"

Shinji put his leg back down. "You always did hate it when you got teased." He gave Misato a smirk, then took a breath in. "So, how is everyone?"

Misato knew this moment was coming, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel, as the worried grin that Shinji's joke gave her slid off. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Not so good."

Shinji reclined in his chair. "I should have guessed. In hindsight, giving me god powers for a day wasn't such a bright idea on SEELE's part, was it." Misato looked over at Shinji. There was no smile on his face, only the hardened face that only the fierce conditions of a barren wasteland could give a person. He stared up at the ceiling. "God damnit, I should have just kept the world the way it was meant to be. I hurt everybody worse than I did them good."

Misato slowed the car and pulled off the side of the road. "Shinji, none of this is your fault. Don't go back to that scared 14-year old boy I picked up by the roadside that afternoon. Instrumentality changed a lot of people for the better. What you did was the right thing."

Shinji continued looking up at the ceiling. "Well, I guess we could start off with the worst news, or the best news. How's father?" There was no look of pity for that man, even after all Shinji had seen from him during Instrumentality.

"He…hasn't come back." Misato said, flinching a bit. She wasn't sure how Shinji would react to that bit of news. She pulled off the shoulder of the road and started on their way again.

"I suppose it can only get worse from there." Shinji said quietly. He didn't break eye contact with the ceiling, which he seemed to be in a staring contest to the death with.

"Its not all bad, Shinji…I made Sub-Commander of the Japanese Armed Forces!" She tried to smile. She was stalling.

Shinji finally broke contact with the roof and looked down at Misato. "Well congratulations! You should have told me sooner!"

Misato smiled slightly. "Well, I don't want to be egotistical…"

"Well, I would've learned anyway. But why would they send such a _beautiful_ leader out to search for a dirty old rogue like me?" Shinji said, tounge-in-cheek. "Especially when you could take a nasty fall like you did? You could be _disfigured_ for life…"

"Ah, that's the price to pay to see you again. Say, Shinji, was that a trap you set coming down into your camp?" Misato said.

"No, why?" Shinji answered blankly.

"Because it seems like you've done that style of ambush before. You were just so…_cold_ about the way you first saw me." Misato said.

"Well…don't tell this to anyone, but I have." He said, looking away. "Some punk tried to rob me at night. I heard him just before he got in my camp house. I ambushed him and told him to get lost, and that I didn't have anything worth stealing…he tried to draw a gun on me…so I stabbed him…I killed a man!" Misato started to see tears run down his cheeks.

_So living out there wasn't as perfect as he led me on to believe._ "Shinji…you did the only thing you could have. He would have killed you otherwise. It was him or you." That was all she could tell him.

"Why couldn't it have been me instead? I'm the reason the world is like it is now! I've probably messed up so many lives…and then I took another from this world…" He completely broke down at the thought.

"Shinji, none of this is any of your fault. You tried to bring the world as closely to normal as you could. There's not much more you could have done." Misato said sympathetically. He still carried the world like a weight around his shoulders.

He looked sadly out the window, out over the fields of never-ending devastation. They were heading northwest towards Nagoya, but as they approached the new capital of Japan, this area seemed to teem with much more life than where his camp had been. He saw workers laboring in a field, attempting to get some form of agriculture up and running again. He saw shanties clumsily built up to house all the workers out here.

"No, there was more I could have done. None of this had to be like this at all." Shinji said.

"Shinji, I don't know what you saw or had the opportunity to do during Instrumentality, but anything other than this reality was running away."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT? HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT I WENT THROUGH!" Shinji yelled, causing Misato to swerve in surprise. He regained his composure quickly though. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

Misato just kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead of her. "No, no, that's okay. I was stepping out of line there. I shouldn't have gone there."

"No, its me that should be sorry. During Instrumentality, I saw an infinite number of realities that we could have gone towards. Even now, I can see that infinite number of realities, just underlying everything you see and take for granted. I know its hard to comprehend, but I don't think those god powers that I got entirely went away. No, I can't split seas or summon lightning bolts from the blue…but something isn't entirely right with the world. I'm not even sure this was the true reality, of what was really supposed to happen after Third Impact."

Misato gave Shinji a smile. "Shinji, the choice was yours, and yours alone to make. It took more suffering than anybody else in the world could stand to bear just to get to that state. I'll trust any choice you made was the right one." Shinji began to feel a little better. Misato smiled a little bit. She figured it was time to ease into _that_ conversation. "Shinji, something like this happened when Asuka first came to Japan. She was unsure of herself, about her past, about her future here. I don't know what you saw of her childhood in Instrumentality, but…"

Shinji was looking back up at the ceiling. "I saw it, I saw what she went through."

Misato leaned back. "Then I think you can understand why she was unsure. That night at the hot springs. She asked me about her past. I told her to forget it. There's nothing she could have done to go back and change things. Shinji, you need to understand the same thing. What's done is done. There's absolutely nothing you can do to change it. You just to have to take the consequences of your actions as they come. Shinji, I trust your decision. Even if you weren't in the perfect state of mind to make the choice, it was still…" She trailed off.

Shinji heaved another sigh. "I can see you're trying to avoid the subject, but here goes…how's Asuka?"

Misato took a deep breath in, thinking of the best way to phrase it. "She's alive…"

Shinji breathed a slight sigh of relief. "As long as she's okay, I'm happy."

Tears started coming to Misato's eyes. The details of that day were still painful. "She's not okay."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.

Misato tried to shore herself up to tell the story. "Shinji, please don't get angry with me if I can't tell you what happened. I'm not entirely sure myself." There was a long silence. "I'll have to let you visit her firsthand. I think you'll have to see for yourself."

Shinji closed his eyes and began to cry. Misato spoke up again. "She seemed fine after she was discovered on the beach. She was heavily bandaged, but we don't know by who. Fortunately, the wounds were minor, but her right eye…it looks okay, but it doesn't move. But that's not the worst of what happened. She seemed okay for a few weeks, but she always talked about how you were alive and would eventually come back…well, you did."

Shinji saw all the possibilities run through his head. "Let me guess, she lost it?" Shinji said quietly.

Misato took the simplest reply she could. "Yes." She thought for a moment then continued. "I found her when I got out of work that day. She was in the corner of my room, and there was an old dirty rag doll. I guess she had found it on the side of the road. Anyway, she had taken to calling it Shinji. She didn't acknowledge me when I got in. It seemed like she had left to some vacant part of the universe. Its not like she's intentionally trying to be cold…I just don't think she's all there anymore."

Shinji sighed. "So where is she now?"

Misato shrugged. "Today she's in the psychiatric ward. She usually stays at home with me, but when I have to go out of town, I have to take her by the ward. Precautionary measures, you know."

Shinji nodded. "So, what am I going to do?"

"I can't tell you until we reach the central office." Misato said. "Its not safe."

"Not even in your own car, huh?" Shinji gave a small sigh. "That serious."

"Shinji, I'm sorry for all the secretiveness. Its…just that important." Misato said.

"I understand. There's no need to apologize." Shinji replied.

The road went up around the side of a small mountain. As the car turned the bend, a grand city opened up before them. The city itself sat in a low basin, with several rivers running through the middle of it. To the south, just beyond the city, a large bay and port area could be seen. Several of the buildings that made up pre-Second Impact Nagoya could be seen out into the bay, but most of these were along the two low ridges about 15 kilometers apart that ran parallel into the sea.

Construction equipment surrounded the older inland buildings, taking them apart piece by piece, so some of the concrete blocks could be reused in other buildings. Other lots had several large piles of rubble, presumably where other buildings had been demolished. Gleaming new buildings rose like swords from the decay of the old. Several buildings must have been taller than a thousand feet, while many smaller skyscrapers surrounded them. On the far end of the city, where the basin faded back into the mountains again, several smaller ten story apartment buildings stood, beginning to disappear into the shade of the mountains as the mid-afternoon sun sunk lower. Shinji looked closer. Some of them seemed to have blast marks and chunks missing out of them.

"Misato, what happened to those apartment buildings out there?" Shinji asked.

"They're all pre-Third Impact buildings. Some of them are from here in Nagoya, but the others are all from Tokyo-3." Misato said.

"There was still something left of Tokyo-3?" Shinji asked.

"A little. Most of it came from the outskirts of the city. There wasn't a lot that survived the N-2 mining of the central city to breach into the GeoFront." Misato paused to think. "I think one of those is our old apartment building, actually. However, we've got a new apartment complex in the inner suburbs of the city. It's even got an emergency route going straight from our apartment to the headquarters."

Shinji took all of the information in. "So, am I still living in your apartment, or will I get my own?"

"Well, since housing is in shortage, there's a city ordinance of having a minimum of occupants in a single apartment. I've got no one else living there, but I get away with it since I'm a sub-commander. However…you might run into problems with it." Misato said.

"Nah, that's okay, I'm sure you could use the help in keeping your apartment clean…" Shinji replied. He waited for Misato to take the bait.

"I can clean my own apartment just fine, thank you very much!" Misato yelled.

"Riiight, we see how that worked out last time." Shinji replied.

Misato broke out laughing, then gave a sigh. "You know, this all reminds me of old times."

Shinji smiled nostalgically. "Yeah… so what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Misato asked.

"What are we going to do today?" Shinji asked.

"Well, first I think we need to get you registered for schooling again." Misato said. "Some of your friends will probably be there."

Shinji sighed. "Yeah, but they'd be a year ahead of me at least. I wouldn't even see them."

Misato smiled. "No, you'd all be in the same grade. The education system has had a hard time getting itself back on its feet. Fortunately…the government's gotten a small school running for select students. You've got a place reserved for you there. I think they're planning to open a more…public school early next year."

"Okay…so what else?" Shinji asked.

"We'll probably need to go by the headquarters and get you a physical, and brief you on what it is you'll be doing. Maybe if we get time…we can go visit Asuka." Misato finished. "But first, we probably need to get you some new clothes." The Renault sped on down the road and soon faded into the traffic of the afternoon rush hour.

* * *

A/N: Well, my attempt at a post-Third Impact fanfic. No expectations to live up to with a rebuilding world, so I don't really feel constrained by the events in the original series. Next chapter will probably see more of the rebuilding (new) capital of Nagoya, as well as Shinji getting his feet wet in a new military life. Not sure if I'll visit Asuka next time, but trust me, she'll be in the story. A lot. And yes, there will be more Evangelions, but probably not what you expect. 

Anyway, I thank you all for reading and reviewing, and I hope to see you again in the next chapter, or in my other story-in-progress Experimentality. I've heard its a good story...if you like that sort of thing. Anyway, I'm off to go start writing again. Cheerio

LastStandofAchilles


	2. Settling Down

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. Really.

**Return of Evangelion - Next Century Telling **

**Chapter 2 - Settling Down**

* * *

There was a knock at the door. The headmaster looked up from the paperwork that he was doing started mumbling to himself. More than likely, he thought, it was just another rich family trying to ensure their child had schooling. A second knock, this time more insistent, came from the door. The headmaster stacked up some of his work, and cleaned off a space on the desk. "Come in!" 

The blue haired woman looked at the person she had brought with her. "Shinji, this should only take a second." She turned to the headmaster. "And here's what you need to know about your student." She dropped a folder on the desk in front of him.

The headmaster howled with protest. "Woman, you just can't come in here and proclaim your child is a student of our school! Especially since we're already at capacity!"

"Look closer." Misato said. The headmaster picked up the folder and began to thumb through its contents. A page with a photograph paperclipped to it caught his eye. He had seen the person in the photo and in the room before, but he didn't instantaneously recognize from where. He put down the folder and took the page out. His eyes scanned the paper, then stopped when they fell across two words.

His pupils contracted. "I'm sorry! How could I not recognize the great Shinji Ikari! Of course he can go to school here. Let's see, where's the paperwork?" He rummaged through a drawer, and produced a small pile of papers.

Misato grinned. "No need, the paperwork's already been completed. It should be in the folder."

The headmaster looked through the folder and found it. "Alright then, barring any unforeseen incidents, the semester should be starting two weeks from now. Your uniforms and schedule will be mailed out next week. Feel free to look around the school if you wish. I'd love to talk, but I've got a lot of work to do." He motioned towards the stacks of paper that covered his desk.

"Understood. C'mon Shinji, we've got some other things to get taken care of today." Misato said, turning for the door. Shinji turned around and followed her out.

As they were leaving the school, they went through the main foyer. Shinji looked up at some of the art and decorations. "Sure is classy in here." Shinji said.

Misato shrugged. "It seems like a waste of money to me. We're lacking in resources, and we used a ton of them to decorate a high school." She looked out over the well manicured grounds. "Considering you won't be here a whole lot."

Shinji looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Misato looked up towards the sky and rested her hands on the back of her head. "You only spend about a month here for basic education. Then you get shipped off into the wilderness for a while for special forces training."

Shinji sighed. "Why?"

"Well, currently, the government is focusing heavily on defense. They want large numbers of special forces soldiers ready in case we're invaded." Misato said. She whispered to Shinji. "Plus, you need it for _**that**_ job."

"What is _**that**_ job? You never told me." Shinji replied.

Misato was quiet. She bent down and whispered in his ear. "Evangelion."

* * *

The door to Commander Sononzaki's office slid open. 

"Good evening Misato, I hope everything went well?" The Commander asked. His face was a heavy-set, squarish one, with multiple scars and wrinkles crossing his cheeks. His wild, gray hair was still dense enough to come down to his eyes, which some said held the very essence of wisdom. In short, he looked almost like a stereotypical, aged leader should

"Sorta." She replied, gesturing to the bandage covering nearly half of her face. "I'm surprised that kid could even live out there like that."

"Children hold many surprises that we wouldn't even consider. Resiliency is one of those traits. Many of those traits, we tend to lose as we get older, unfortunately." The Commander said, in a rare moment of poetic insight. "By the way, how is he?"

"He looked fine, but he's undergoing a physical to see if there are any other underlying problems. He seemed quite content out there. It didn't really look like he was struggling to get by." Misato said. "If no one brought him back, I'm sure he would have lived out there until he died."

"Or came to his senses." The Commander replied. "I'm sure he would make an excellent special operations agent, even if he couldn't get into Project E-2. Did you have any problems enrolling him in the academy?"

"None at all, the paperwork took care of most of that quickly. We had some time to go get him some new clothes." Misato said.

The Commander broke out in booming laughter. "Well then, I suppose you had your evening set then!" He quieted, then gave Misato a back-to-business look. "When does his testing start?"

"Should be starting any minute now, they said they would be testing as soon as they finish the physical." Misato said.

"Well, it shouldn't be that difficult for him to pass, should it? After all, he does have previous experience." The Commander said. "The project is currently on schedule, correct?"

"Yes." Misato said. "The three prototypes in their final tests, and the test pilots were able to control them in combat situations."

"Ah, good, good." Commander Sonozaki said, grinning. It was a crooked smile, one twisted by age. "How long until mass-production can begin?"

"Well, the first began synthesis yesterday, we're expecting it to be completed in about 4 months. However, according to our theories and our method of construction, we can't really begin mass synthesis until more pilots are chosen."

Sonozaki sighed. "Speed up the selection process. I'm not sure if you've heard yet, but the New American Union agreed to send some battleships over to patrol the straights between the Kurils, Sakhalin, and Hokkaido. Naturally, the Soviets and the Chinese aren't happy."

"I see. I'll talk with the project leader as soon as possible, sir."

"Excellent. The sooner we can get selection started, the better off we'll be." Sonozaki said. "I'm sure you'd like to watch Mr. Ikari test, so we'll hurry through the rest of this. What's the state of the defense network?"

"Well, the Nagoyan Geofront is almost near completion, I believe only 2 behind schedule and 5 under budget." Misato said, referring to some of the papers she brought with her. "I believe most of the H-tunnels to Osaka are completed, with only H9 and H15 still awaiting completion. The Osakan Geofront is about 15 behind schedule and 10 over budget. Of course, they're still trying to recover from the seawall incident there." Misato said, flipping through the charts.

"Ah yes, that's where the seawall failed and flooded in, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any word of the final death toll?"

"About 57, but there's still about 10 missing. I doubt they'll be found, a lot of the water went away without pumping, so they were probably pulled into faults and fissures."

"Okay. Continue."

"The Kuril group defensive line is undergoing final checkouts, it should be fully operational next month. The Hokkaido line is about 75 completed, but the segments around the Sakhalin and Kuril beachheads are finished. The Honshu partitions are completed and still undergoing checkouts, the southern portions should be operational by the end of the month, and the northern ones late next month. The Korean Corridor is almost hopelessly behind schedule and way over budget. We're still getting government interference."

A look of contempt glowed in the Commander's eye. "Damn it, this government fears for its own safety, but they keep the ports open to make a quick buck from Korea! The Diet meets next week; I'll see what I can get them to do in the matter. Transfer the 3rd Mechanized Infantry to the area, that will at least keep it safer."

Misato nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Any reports of gang activity in the areas outside of government control?"

"Yes, a lot of the gang activity has shifted further to the south; we're having a difficult time containing them there. Most activity in the north has been crushed by the military." Misato said.

"Good. Well, that's all I needed to know for today." Commander Sonozaki said, ending the conversation.

"Thank you, sir." Misato said, standing up. She bowed then turned for the door.

"Ah…Misato?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I would like to talk to Mr. Ikari tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Shinji Ikari?" The doctor called. 

Shinji stood up, and walked over to him. "Yes?"

"Come this way." He lead Shinji down the hall and into a room filled with various electronic equipment. He pointed to a chair with thousands of wires running from it. "Take a seat here, please, we'll start the test." A dozen technicians swarmed Shinji as they wired him up to the machine.

The door into the room opened again. "Ah, Subcommander Katsuragi, if it isn't you…well, you got here just in time, we're about to start the test. Shinji, can you hear me?"

"Yes." Shinji answered.

"We're going to run several tests this evening to get your psychological data. As I'm sure you've been briefed, you are under consideration to pilot an Evangelion. However, we have a different method of construction than you are probably familiar with. Instead of selecting a pilot that matches the Evangelion's profile, we are selecting an _Evangelion_ that matches the pilot's profile. In order to do that, we need your profile under set conditions. You understand?"

Shinji nodded. "Okay, start the computer recordings and the graph screens." The doctor said.

"Okay, Shinji, this is almost like one of the sync tests you're familiar with. Focus on nothingness, or try to feel like you've become a part of the machine. Data collection should be done in about an hour."

By the end, Shinji was exhausted from such a busy day, while Misato looked rather bored. "Misato, what do we have left to do?" He said, yawning.

"Well, we probably need to get some groceries, but I suppose those can put those off until tomorrow. You look ready for bed. Come on, let's go home."

"Home…it's been two years." Shinji said, lost in a daze.

"But it's just as welcome as ever, Shinji."

* * *

Misato pulled into the parking garage. She reached over and woke Shinji, who had been sleeping soundly since he had climbed into the car. "Shinji, we're home." He sat and blinked for a moment, then looked around. "Come on, we need to get your clothes out." 

They reached in the back and grabbed several bags of clothes that they had gotten at the mall. "I'm sorry, I should have had some clothes ready for you when you got back." Misato said.

"No, no, its fine, you wouldn't have known what size to get. It's probably best this way." Shinji said reassuringly.

About 10 minutes later, they reached the apartment itself. Misato pushed some buttons and the door opened. She fumbled around in her pockets for something, then produced a card and some money. "Ah, Shinji, here's the key until you learn the code for the door. Your room should be on the left once you get into the living room. I've got a few other things to take care of tonight, so I won't be back until late. If you need to get anything, there's a small market down on the ground level. Night, Shinji."

"Er…night Misato." Shinji said, taken aback. Misato gave a nod, then shut the door behind her on the way out. Shinji picked up the bags and moved them into the vacant room. He spent a few minutes putting them up, then wandered back into the living room. The apartment looked much different from the previous one. There was a small hallway which connected the door to the living room. At the back of the room, a large window overlooked the city. A sliding glass door connected out to a patio. Beside the window and against the wall was a small couch. A TV stand sat against the opposite wall.

The room itself was openly connected to the kitchen, which contained the basics, a counter, a sink, a stove, a fridge, storage cabinet. The kitchen had a hardwood floor. From the living room, there were two doors on each side of the room. Three of the doors were bedrooms, the other, a bathroom. It was Shinji's luck to get the bedroom furthest from the bathroom.

He checked out the bathroom. It was well stocked, with a bathtub/shower, and to his surprise, its very own washer/dryer. He yawned, then walked back out and checked the kitchen. Out of habit, he made a list of what he needed to get the next day, then retired to his room. He stared up at the ceiling.

"Home."

* * *

Shinji woke up to a door swinging open. He heard Misato yawn, then a muffled, but familiar voice. Misato replied, and then there was the sound of the door next to his sliding open, and sliding back shut. Suddenly, he heard his door slide open. He feigned unconsciousness, and the door closed again. He didn't sleep the rest of the night.

* * *

Asuka Langley-Soryu woke up the next morning, and sensing something somewhat unusual, grabbed the little rag doll that represented Shinji and pulled it closer. She sat up on her futon. Something wasn't right to her. She got out of bed and walked into the living room, and looked around. 

"Hello?" She asked in a childish voice, then started searching the apartment. She stumbled into the kitchen, and found a note taped up to the fridge.

_Misato_

_I heard you and Asuka come in last night, and figured I needed to get some groceries to make breakfast for you all. I already went to the market downstairs, but they didn't have everything that I needed. I checked the phonebook, there's another market just down the street, so I'll check there. I should be back by 8 or 8:30, so don't be worried._

_Love, Shinji_

"Shinji!" Asuka said both excitedly and worredly, looking bug-eyed down at her rag doll. There was silence for a moment or two, as she looked down sternly at her doll. "You really shouldn't run off like that in the morning." She walked back into her room, hugged her doll tightly, then drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

At about 7:45 that morning, Misato was awakened by a phone call. She smashed her alarm clock, but when that didn't stop the ringing, she realized it was the phone. She rolled over in bed and picked up the phone. She was a little annoyed at the early phone calls, even most of the workers at NERV knew she worked in the evenings. 

"Yes…Subcommander Katsuragi speaking." There was a second of silence as the speaker replied, then the reply was greeted with a loud "WHAT?!?" She started to become both visually angry and saddened. "All right, I'll get down there as soon as possible."

She jumped out of bed, and changed out of her pajamas. "Asuka! Wake up! We need to go!"

Asuka replied with a faint "Five more minutes…" Misato blinked. It sounded as if Asuka were back to normal.

"NO! NOW!" Misato hated to be so rough with Asuka, especially since she had relapsed mentally to the state of a six or seven year old..

There were faint rustling sounds, then Asuka talking again. "Okay baka Shinji, don't be peeking." There was another hint that Asuka wasn't 'normal', or at least the version of normal that Misato had just started to adjust to living with.

Five minutes later, both Misato and Asuka were ready to go. "Okay Asuka, I've got to go see someone at the hospital, I'll take you to the ward, okay?"

"Okay Misato!" She was cheerful. She loved to visit the ward and have tea time with Shinji.

Twenty minutes later, Misato had arrived at the hospital. She checked in with the nurse, and ran up to ran into the waiting room. "Shinji! Are you okay?"

Shinji looked up from his bed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a couple of cuts. It's nothing serious.

"That's good to hear. Section Two said they're searching for the driver now. What were you doing out so early?"

"Didn't you read the note on the fridge?" Shinji asked.

"What note? There wasn't an….Asuka probably read it. I heard her walking around this morning." Misato said.

"Oh. I was going to the market down the street. The apartment complex market didn't have everything I needed. Say, where is Asuka anyway?" Shinji asked.

"I had to take her by the ward. I'm not sure if this is the best place to let you meet her." Misato replied.

"Ah." Shinji said as he stood up. "Well, if we can go by the market and pick up Asuka on the way back, then we can still have a good breakfast, even if it is a little late."

"Alright. But Shinji, don't go wandering off like that in the morning without telling me. It's not safe." Misato said. "And if a spy found out you were a pilot, then they would shoot you on sight."

"Okay, Misato." Shinji said, sighing. He wasn't sure if he were happy to be back with his foster family, if it meant his freedom of movement were restricted due to bounties placed on his head. "Come on, we're burning daylight. I need to find out where Touji and Kensuke live nowadays, so I can see them again. You said they were living here again?"

Misato nodded. "I recall Touji being offered another chance at piloting, since he recovered his arm and leg in the Genesis. I think Touji lives on the floor below us. I don't think his father or grandfather came back, so I must imaging it gets lonely down there. As for Mr. Aida, he may have been offered the job of pilot, but I haven't seen him around. Section Two hasn't found him yet, but he could be blending in with the crowds in Osaka."

They reached the car, parked by the door. Misato was surprised that there weren't any tickets for leaving her car parked there. "So why do you have to leave Asuka at the ward again?" Shinji asked.

"For her own safety. She's not suicidal or anything, her mind just operates…differently. Sometimes she acts her age, but most of the time, it seems like she can't do anything an eight year old could." Misato said, leaning her head to the side. "It's a long story, but I guess I have the time to tell it to you."

* * *

_**A/N**: Okay, chapter two. This wasn't even close to my best chapter in fanfiction, I'm not really happy with the way this chapter turned out, but if you think different, or agree, just tell me so. The only reason I decided to release this is that its setting the stage for bigger and better things, such as Asuka's backstory in the next chapter. I actually had a slightly better version of this written, but a random power surge screwed around with my hard drive and wiped out the parts I already wrote. It seems kinda like Osaka in AMV Hell 2, then it was like beep beep beep beep..._

_Anyway, I already have most of the next chapter planned out, it should be coming quickly, provided any unforeseen incidents. Please R&R, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!_


	3. The Madness of Asuka LangleySoryu

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Evangelion or its characters. I try to keep the production companies happy, because when production companies get mad, production companies SUE!

**Return of Evangelion- Next Century Telling**

**Chapter 3- The Madness of Asuka Langley-Soryu**

* * *

Previously...

"_So why do you have to leave Asuka at the ward again?" Shinji asked._

"_For her own safety. She's not suicidal or anything, her mind just operates…differently. Sometimes she acts her age, but most of the time, it seems like she can't do anything an eight year old could." Misato said, leaning her head to the side. "It's a long story, but I guess I have the time to tell it to you."_

* * *

Asuka lay there silently crying. _Is this what I have to be like?_ Shinji was gone, having abandoned her hours ago, and not returning. _Alone, left to the wilderness to die by myself? _She moved her left arm to sit up. _Dammit, that hurts! That bastard, he just leaves me here. I can barely move…_ She laid back down. _Didn't we already make up during Third Impact?_ She touched her neck with her good hand. A dull throbbing pain coursed through her body. _Why did he try to strangle me like that? _Confusion wracked her already overworked mind. _Come to think of it, why was he acting like that, it's like he was paranoid or something. Could he have thought I was someone else? _She laid there, staring up at the sky. Faint traces of twilight were beginning to appear in the eastern sky, while the moon came ever closer to setting. 

She recalled the night's events as though they had happened only moments ago. She had woken up laying down right beside Shinji. Shinji turned his head as though he was looking at her, but his eyes seemed to be focused on something else. Slowly, his focus had turned closer to her. He climbed on top of her and wrapped his hands around her throat. She just kept looking upwards, not thinking at all. Suddenly and involuntarily, her injured arm rose up and caressed his face. His already bug-eyed stare grew even wider, as he seemed to snap out of whatever he was thinking and became aware of what he was doing. She lowered her arm as his hands loosened their vice-grip on her neck. He leaned back, starting to cry.

And, before she could even think about it, the cold words had come out of her mouth. "Disgusting." She didn't even know why she said it. But she had said it in the coldest voice she could have. Shinji continued to cry, but he climbed off Asuka. He sat in the sand beside her, looking out over the littered landscape.

There were only two words he could bring himself to say. "I'm sorry…" He sat there and continued to cry to himself. He spoke again, a little more confidently. "I'm sorry." After hours of silence from Asuka, he stood up. He saw lights beginning to pop up across the desolate ocean that lapped at its shorelines in front of them. "I thought…I'd never see them again." With that, he turned around and began to walk off, leaving Asuka laying there.

Asuka couldn't bring herself to say anything then, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything now. Looking at the events that had just unfolded, she could think only one thing. _This is my damn fault._ A tear rolled down her cheek. _I should have said something to comfort him. That's why he left. I didn't learn a damn thing._ "SHINJI!!" She shrieked, hoping she would hear her and come back. She struggled to her feet, falling back down from the pain. "Shinji! Come back!" She stood up again, and fell face forward into the sand. She spit out the sand that had gotten in her mouth, and tried to get back on her unsteady legs. _Just a little pain to have him back. It's a test. I have to find him, I have to find him, or he'll think I haven't learned a thing._ She managed to stumble a few yards, before collapsing, exhausted from the effort.

* * *

"I woke up in a field hospital the morning of the Genesis." Misato said. 

"What's the Genesis?" Shinji asked.

"It's when those who wanted to return from Instrumentality came back. As soon as Third Impact ended, some souls were able to differentiate themselves from the others."

"But no one came back as soon as the Impact was over! I was alone for a long time!" Shinji said.

Misato blinked in surprise. Shinji continued. "There was nobody around for so long, I was beginning to think nobody would come back. It was one long nightmare, the sun didn't even come up when I was out there. I thought I was trapped alone in one eternal nightmare for the choice I made. I thought that was the new reality, one where time itself was frozen. I thought Third Impact had ended everything"

Misato weighed what he had said, then pulled her necklace out from under her shirt. "I guess that would explain why this looks like it does…" A long streak of rust trailed down the cross. "I found it nailed into a board when I was out looking for you. Someone compared that place to some kind of ritual. I went there myself, before many people had explored the beach. It was a small graveyard you built, wasn't it."

Shinji looked down at his legs, and gave a slow nod. "I never thought I'd see anyone again. I only thought I should…" A tear dropped onto his pants. He was recalling the memories of that night, where in a half-crazed state he had tried to choke Asuka. A slight tremor rose up his left arm. "I feel sick…"

Misato swerved to the curbside, causing many of the people behind her to swerve and start honking wildly. "Not in this car!" Shinji jumped out, and threw up into a storm gutter. He sat there for a minute, then climbed back into the car. Misato patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, I should be more understanding." She leaned over and gave him a hug. "It must have been hell out there, all alone. Do you want me to keep telling you the story, or should I save it for later?"

Shinji took a large gulp as he fought down another heave. All he could do was nod.

* * *

Asuka awoke to find herself in a darkened tent, her right arm rebandaged, and her left eye in minor pain. An IV drip ran to her left arm. She couldn't talk, she was too tired. She slowly moved her head around to check out her surroundings. It was an olive drap tent, with a dirt floor. There were several other empty beds in the tent. The entrance was slightly open, allowing a beam of light to shine in. She just lay there for half an hour before someone walked in the tent. The person poked their head back out of the tent and yelled for somebody else. 

"Finally awake, I see…" It was a male voice, but it wasn't booming, no, it was a softer voice. "Can you talk?" Asuka moved her mouth, but couldn't make any noise. The doctor wrote it down, and continued on. "Can you move your left arm?" Asuka slowly twitched her left wrist.

He continued to ask questions. "Can you nod or shake your head?" Asuka slowly nodded yes. He wrote a note, started talking again.

"Okay, just a couple more questions, then I'll leave you alone. First, are you Asuka Langley-Soryu?" Asuka nodded yes.

"Alright then. When we found you, you were mumbling something about a 'Shinji'. Is this 'Shinji' Shinji Ikari?" Asuka again nodded yes.

"Did you meet him after the catastrophe?" Asuka nodded yes, starting to lose some of her energy.

"Okay, last question. Do you know which way he went?" A tear fell from her eye. She shook her head no.

"Thank you for your time. The head doctor would like to talk to you." He said, then left the tent. As soon as he ducked out, another doctor poked her head in. "Well, well, we meet again, Second Child." Asuka placed the voice immediately. It was Dr. Akagi.

* * *

"As I was leaving the field hospital for the conference tent, I heard a report that Asuka had turned up and was in a nearby camp. I got over to the camp and found Asuka. She was in bad shape, some one had tried to strangle her, and she seemed to be in a drug-induced euphoria. She was just laying there, babbling to herself. I hunted down the camp manager and demanded an explanation, but he just said that was doctor's orders for the patient." Misato said. 

Shinji wretched again when Misato mentioned the strangling. A light sweat broke out on his forehead. "M-m-misato…I-i'm the one that tried to s-strangle Asuka. I-I f-feel so sick of myself for it."

Misato gave Shinji a blank look. "I know, Asuka told me some of this before she went…" She gave a gesture that finished the statement. "Anyway, I flashed the manager my NERV badge, and the color drained from his face. He looked me right in the eye, and pointed towards the doctor's tent without saying a word. I barged in, and found the doctor slumped over in her chair. I checked for a pulse, but she was dead.

"I called in the staff and yelled my lungs out at them for the better part of 20 minutes out of pure anger. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have, but their security was terrible. When I looked into it, the head doctor was dead before the others said she had visited Asuka. That meant that…"

"Somebody was trying to kill Asuka or the pilots!" Shinji yelled in shock. "Someone tried to kill Asuka, and they probably would have killed me if I had stuck around! But, I wasn't around to help Asuka."

"Fortunately, the doctors were able to treat the overdose before it killed her. But damn, if it wasn't close to killing her…Anyway, I'd had enough of that camp's management. I had the manager detained for attempted murder, and started setting up a base-of-operations there. I tracked down most of NERV's surviving personnel and had them transferred to our camp." Misato said.

"By that afternoon, things were running smoothly enough for me to lead a search out into the wilderness for you. We found footprints, but we couldn't come up with anything. It was as if you had disappeared off the face of the earth. When we returned to the camp, we found that a small military group was stationed there. Minoru Sonozaki, his name was. He was the leader of a small band calling itself the Government of Japan. Of course, he was the Minister of Defense when Third Impact happened, so I didn't argue with him."

* * *

Asuka regained consciousness in the middle of a hot afternoon. The cicadas were already calling, and she was soaked in sweat. Her right arm was unbandaged, but a large, narrow scar ran up from between her middle and ring fingers up to just below her shoulder. Her left eye was still covered, but she didn't really take notice of it. She sat up in bed, but it didn't hurt to do so. The wind blowing on the sweat soaked back of her hospital gown felt good. 

"Hello?" She called. "Is there anybody out there?"

There was no reply for a minute. _I am worthless, I've been abandoned again…_She began to cry softly. "What did I do to deserve this?"

The tent door was flung open. Misato ran in and embraced Asuka in a tight hug. Tears were running down her cheeks as well. "Asuka…Asuka…I was beginning to think you'd never wake up!" She completely broke down after that.

Asuka began to shake. "M—misato!" She was crying just as hard as Misato was now. "I couldn't wait to see you again! Have they found Shinji yet?"

"No, Asuka, we haven't. But we're looking, and we'll find him soon."

* * *

The old man walked into the camp, his arms crossed behind his back. Several jeeps that still functioned drove in beside him. A contingent of soldiers marched around the camp. He spotted a purple haired woman who was running around and giving orders. He recognized her at once, as one of the top leaders at NERV. 

"Miss Katsuragi!" He yelled, stopping her in her tracks. She too recognized the man, the Minister of Defense of Japan. She walked over and bowed.

"Yes, sir?" She said nervously. She wasn't sure if he was aware of the events of the day before.

"Have any of your superiors been found?" He asked curiously.

"No sir."

"Well, then I guess the burden of command falls on you then." He said, giving a little laugh. "You probably think you can fool me into blaming the Third Impact on someone else. I'm not falling for it. I'll have every single member of this organization indicted on charges of treason, you hear me?"

"On what grounds?" Misato asked.

"Resisting the JSDF raid, for one. They had the specific approval of the government to enter your headquarters."

"We do have protection under Clause 3 of the Unit-"

"That protection was rescinded before we came in."

"And they fired the first shot! They were shooting those that surrendered!"

"Beside the point. Several members engaged in forms of warfare that forced us to shoot on sight." He said. "However…we seem to be a bit understaffed in the security department. The government would hate to see such an opportunity to…slip past us." He raised his arm, and made a circular gesture with his hand. Troops ringed around the camp, and raised their guns.

"What the hell are you doing! There's innocent people still here!" Misato screamed.

"Beside the point. There are more dangerous individuals here than I would like to see. Here's the deal. You fold all your operations under government control, and you walk out of here fine, and your people get the backing of the Provisional Government. Hell, I'll even promote you to Commander of NERV. However, if you refuse, we'll just say that things will get rather messy here." He made another motion with his hand, and the sound of cocking rifles echoed through the camp.

Misato looked nervously at the ground. As much as she hated the government for interfering with affairs even when they were a protected organization, she hated even more the thought of getting killed twice in as many days. She bowed. "Yes sir."

"I thought that you had some common sense to you. Come on, start packing up. We're moving into Nagoya." He said, gesturing for his troops to drop their arms.

"Why Nagoya?" Misato asked.

"One of the few major cities still intact. Most of Osaka and the Tokyo-to are destroyed. Kyoto is still burning, and Tokyo-2 is unstable. We've heard there are looters beginning to get organized in Nagoya, so we want to get in there fast and establish control over the area."

"But we're still looking for some missing people in the area. We've heard reports that some of our members have come back, but we're still trying to confirm that." Misato said, trying to keep NERV out of the chaos of urban combat.

Sonozaki thought for a moment. "Alright, you and 20 of your people can stay out here, and keep looking. The rest will come with me to Nagoya, under my command. However, as part of this bargain, I will keep control over the organization from this point forward. Miss Katsuragi, in light of the fact that none of your superiors have made contact, you are now the Subcommander of this organization. If you find Commander Ikari, or Subcommander Fuyutski, they are to be arrested and given over to the government, understood?"

"Yes sir." Misato said.

"Alright. Come on, we're moving out!" The vehicles began to speed off. "Miss Katsuragi, I expect those reinforcements to come in tomorrow. If I don't get them, I'll make you wish you had just gotten everything over with today, got it?"

Misato's voice broke. "Yes sir."

Sonozaki jumped into a vehicle that was waiting for him, which peeled out and exited the camp.

* * *

Asuka was surrounded. 

"But Shinji _does_ exist!" She pleaded. The other kids laughed at her.

"Yeah right, if he existed, then where is he right now? I thought you said you saw him, didn't you? Or do you think we're stupid enough to believe that government misinformation?" One kid said.

"He exists! He was my friend!" Asuka said, the word 'friend' slipping out of her mouth.

The kids laughed again. "Oh, so now you're the friend of the mythical Shinji Ikari." One cracked his knuckles. "I suppose we're going to have to beat this nonsense out of her head, then, aren't we?" Two other stepped in, one punching her in the eye, the other giving her a hard blow to the stomach. The leader stepped up. "And if you expect us to believe you, you've got another thing coming. Just because you used to pilot an Evangelion, doesn't mean you'll get to lie to us scot-free. Let's go, guys." The small group left, leaving a bleeding Asuka on the sidewalk by herself.

* * *

Misato sat in Commander Sonozaki's office. "Asuka was found beaten up. It's unlike her for someone to get not one, but two blows in on her. She seems like she's losing her spark." 

"Keep her out of the public attention, and focus your efforts on finding Shinji Ikari. He's the one with the most combat experience, and probably the most stable from our last accounts. Asuka mentally may not be ready to pilot an Eva again."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Asuka! I'm home!" Misato called, walking in the front door. There was no response. She walked into the living room, but there was no sign of Asuka. "Asuka! Are you here?" Misato called again, this time more frantically. She went into Asuka's room, making sure if she were okay. Asuka wasn't the afternoon napping type, but Misato just needed to make sure. "Asuka, are you in here?" 

Asuka was in there. She sat cross-legged in the back corner of the room, stroking the black hair of a filthy rag-doll. She looked up to see Misato, and held out the doll. "Look Misato! Shinji came back! So now you don't have to keep going out and looking for him! We're a happy family again!"

* * *

Misato and Shinji stood outside the glass window that looked in on the room Asuka was playing in. Asuka sat by herself, in the back of the room, playing with the little rag-doll. Misato hit her fist against the window, startling the other patients inside the room. Tears were starting to run from her eyes. 

"This is my own damn fault." She said.

"Misato, its okay, there wasn't much you could do to help her." Shinji said, hoping to calm her down.

"No, it is my fault. I ignored her for the large part of a year, hoping to find you and get our little family back together again. Instead, I ignored Asuka's needs, and instead she tried to fulfill mine by finding you herself." Misato said, crying heavily now. "Dammit, I've screwed things up so bad I don't deserve to be called your or her guardian."

"It's okay Misato. Like you told me, don't dwell on the past, concentrate on taking things one step at a time now." Shinji said, patting her back. He gave her a hug. "Come on now, let's get Asuka and have some breakfast!"

* * *

**A/N: **Well, another chapter done, and this one probably a lot better than the previous one. At least, I'm a lot happier with it. I'll probably end up redoing chapter two at some point, but all I can say was, I didn't intend for it to turn out that way. Anyway, for now, that's all of the backstory that I'm putting together for now, although there probably will be some more history at the military school, which, now that I think about it, is probably only a chapter or two away. I'm invisioning the next chapter as Shinji meeting Asuka again, Shinji meeting with the Commander for the first time, and setting the stage for school. 

Thanks to everybody who has read so far, double thanks to all of those who have reviewed, and triple thanks to those who added this to their favorite stories list. Its an honor. And for the C2 that added me, cool! It means a lot. Anyway, barring any random cases of writers block, I should have the next chapter up withing a week or so. See you there!


End file.
